Emotions Live in the Body: Understanding the Science of Felt Experience (and How to Tune In)

Have you ever asked yourself, “why do I feel like this?”

Sometimes it’s the recognition of an emotion that prompts that question. Why am I so sad? Why am I so angry? At other times, what comes into our awareness first is physical signs: tightness in the throat, pressure in the chest, butterflies in the stomach. And sometimes, we might notice a whole cluster at once: naming the emotion as ‘fear’ while also feeling the nausea, sweating, and a racing heart. (A tough place to be!)

We often divide experience into thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations. In reality, they’re far more entangled than that neat, fragmented model suggests. Continuing the theme of mind-body connection, this post will explain how emotions show up physically, why that matters, and how recognising these signals can help break cycles of stress, low mood, or stuckness.

Embodiment: Emotions in the Body

It’s tempting to think of emotions as something that happens ‘in your head.’ Perhaps that view is comforting sometimes, but it can also be used to invalidate someone’s experience (have you ever been told that what you were feeling was only in your head?) In any case, reality is more complex. In the overlapping worlds of therapy and yoga, we sometimes talk about embodiment: the way things like emotions show up in the body. Just think of the many colourful expressions we use to capture emotions that take the shape of bodily sensations:

·       something being ‘gut-wrenching’, ‘jaw-dropping’, ‘toe-curling’;

·       your heart ‘sinking;’

·       getting something ‘off your chest;’

·       describing something as ‘stomach-turning.’

These examples are linguistic evidence of the mind-body connection. In therapy, especially in approaches like Focusing, we sometimes pay attention to the ‘felt sense,’ which can be defined as the way emotions manifest in the body: a mix of sensations, shifts, and signals that tell us how we’re feeling before we can even put words to it. People often use the phrase ‘how emotions affect the body’ although therapists prefer to debate whether this felt sense is part of the emotion itself or sits alongside it – but for our purposes, what matters is learning to notice it.

Why You Feel What You Feel: An Evolutionary Perspective

While the physical signs we notice in ourselves can sometimes be puzzling, it all makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. Emotions can be very strong motivators for action (have you ever seen a frightened animal?), and we experience bodily phenomena accordingly:

·       Anxiety → racing heart, shallow breathing → flight or fight

·       Sadness → heavy limbs, urge to curl up → protection from loss

·       Anger → clenched jaw, flushed face, tight fists → fight

What we can sometimes name as ‘anger’ or ‘fear’ is a complicated sequence of neural processes, muscular responses (e.g. quicker breathing, stomach tightening), and an additional layer of interpretation, meaning we may well have feelings about the feelings we’re experiencing. All this complexity makes emotions biopsychosocial events: combinations of organic processes we notice and make sense of through a social lens.

Increasing Awareness: The Science of What Happens Inside the Body

Although emotions are complex, we can all hone the ability to notice them, including the way they show up in the body. Interoception is our abilityto sense internal body states: it’s what tells us we are hungry, thirsty, or suffering from indigestion. It also helps us notice shifts in what our nervous system is doing in any given moment.

The human nervous system has two branches, sympathetic and parasympathetic, which roughly correspond to two states we might find ourselves in: fight or flight, and rest and digest. In this model, simplified for our purposes, the nervous system has two main jobs: either protect the body from threat (fight or flight) or, when it’s safe, prioritise rest and recovery. Both systems are necessary for survival. On a side note, if you ever struggle to remember the names of the branches, think of your sympathetic nervous system screaming “I’M SO SORRY TO BE DOING THIS TO YOU!” (because it’s sympathetic… get it?) while making you run for your life.

Recognising Emotional States: From Awareness to Action

Why does awareness of bodily states matter so much? Without the ability to notice what’s going on inside, you might miss important clues about how you feel and what you need in a given moment. For example, you might not notice the cumulative impact of work-related stress on your wellbeing until you’re completely burnt out. The more closely you can follow your internal states, the sooner you’ll be able to use that information to take action, such as resting, adjusting the way you recharge, or even changing jobs.

In relationships, your recognition of toxic patterns might be delayed because, ‘on paper,’ everything looks fine. The other person’s words sound reasonable enough, yet your body registers something is off, even before your mind can form a logical argument. As trauma specialist Bessel van der Kolk famously wrote, “the body keeps the score.” It’s worth listening to it.

Practical Steps to Tune into Your Body

Often we ask ourselves, “Why do I feel this way?” But a more helpful starting point can simply be: “How do I feel?” I ask my therapy clients this question all the time (see this guide on how therapy works), but you can also practise asking yourself.

Here are four practical ways to tune into your body:

1. Body Scan: Spend 2–3 minutes noticing sensations without judgment.

2. Name Emotions as Sensations: e.g., “I feel a knot in my stomach” instead of “I’m anxious.” A feelings wheel can also help expand your emotional vocabulary and bring more nuance to what you notice.

3. Move to Regulate: Choose high-intensity movement (running, cardio) to release stress, or gentler practices (yoga, stretching, slow breathing) to calm and reconnect.

4. Compassionate Reframe: Replace self-criticism with curiosity, e.g., “My body is protecting me.”

Let’s unpack all this. Taking time to actively tune in to your body can be hugely beneficial. A good yoga class is a great place to start, because yoga brings together movement and mindfulness in a unique way. But you can also practise on your own: all you need is 2–3 minutes, a comfortable place to sit or lie down, and a focus on your breath and body. If your mind wanders, that’s absolutely fine! Notice it, then gently return your attention to your body.

Movement itself helps regulate emotions, shifting them from overwhelming to manageable. The right approach depends on your state: when stressed, high-intensity exercise can discharge tension; when calmer, gentler practices like yoga or stretching help you turn inward.

Because emotions, including their physical aspects, arise before conscious thought, blaming yourself for how you feel won’t help. You didn’t choose the palpitations, the sweating, or the tightness. Instead, cultivate an attitude of self-compassion, and understand that your body is doing its best to protect you from real or perceived threats. It is on your side, and it can become a powerful ally if you learn to listen to it.

Conclusion: Connecting with Emotions, Connecting with the Body

As we have seen, emotions don’t belong exclusively to the mental arena. We experience them powerfully through a range of bodily phenomena, which we can learn to pay attention to so that we can more clearly and quickly map our emotional states and respond accordingly. Listening to what the body tells us means deciphering the messages coming from the non-conscious parts of us. This guidance, when working together with the logical, rational part of our mind, helps us make wiser decisions and build a better life. And taking care of the body, whether through sleep, nourishment or movement, is hugely impactful for our mental health.

I would invite you to listen to your body today, and see if you can notice and articulate something you weren’t aware of before. With practice, you can get better at this. And if you need guidance, consider working with me. Whether through talking or movement, we’ll always be working towards wellbeing for the whole you.